Spectrum 2-8-0 gear problem.

[djp]

Hi, has anybody had a problem with the 2-8-0 drive gear, where it gets worn out. Looking for a replacement. Bachmann sells the entire mechanism. Suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

[Jim Banner]

I am not sure which gear you are referring to, the worm and pinion, the cog belt and sprockets or the main rods, side rods and valve gear.

Jim

[djp]

Hi Jim, it is the worm and pinion. The worm has worn out the gear laterally on one side. I could buy the whole mechanism from Bachmann but am worried that if it has happened once it can happen again. I am looking for a site that sells just gears. Any ideas?

[BillD53A]

I had a similar problem years ago and they sold me a set of drive wheels with rods attached.  They may not have parts anymore.  Be sure to re-align everything when re-assembling, or it will happen again.   Try contacting North West Short Line to see if they have a replacement gear.  The ten-wheelers have wheels that are keyed to the axles; they can not be reassembled out of quarter.  Dunno about the drives on the 2-8-0s

[Jim Banner]

Does your bad gear look something like this?



If the pinion is off center relative to the worm, it can overload the part of the pinion that the worm is riding on and wear it out.  I suspect this sometimes happens in the factory when a mechanism binds.  A proper fix is to move the axle farther away from the worm, but this takes time.  A quick fix is to offset the pinion so that only the corner is riding on the worm teeth.  It fixes the binding and lasts for a while, but ultimately the mechanism fails earlier than it should.

One solution would be to move the pinion over on the axle until the worm is centered on the good part.  With luck, there will not be any binding as the counter shaft that the worm is on slowly wears away its bearings.  If you are not so lucky, then the worm will bind in the pinion.  Then, if you want, you can do an easy fix by moving the pinion over so that the worm is working on the good corner.

If I have misinterpreted the problem, let me know.  Also let me know if you feel competent to replace a pinion gear.  It involves removing at least one wheel from its axle, and then replacing it in exactly the same position.  If the wheel is turned even a very few degrees, the side rods will bind up and the locomotive will no longer run smoothly.  To get the wheel lined up perfectly requires either a quartering jig or a lot of patience.  You can look up quartering jig on NorthWestShortline's website.

Jim

[djp]

Hi Jim, you just hit the nail on the head. Looks like you have had this problem before. Your diagram is spot on, only thing is mine is worn out much more. Like half. The gear is in real bad shape. I could move the pinion but i doubt it will last for more than a couple of hours. I am trying to find a substitute gear over here but no luck.As for removing the pinion it took me like 4 hours without a quartering jig to assemble it back. I can do it again. LOL. I am a very stubborn man. I don't want to leave a $120 locomotive static because of a $5 gear.

[djp]

Anybody has a direct link to purchase this gear?

[rich1998]

i wonder if this may become something like the shay gear story. maybe nwsl might get interested like they did for the cracked shay gears.
lex